US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in the possibility of buying Greenland - Denmark's autonomous territory in North America, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

"In meetings, at dinners and in passing coversations, Mr. Trump had asked advisers whether the US can acquire Greenland, listened with interest when they discuss its abundant resources and geopolitical importance," the WSJ said. People familiar with the matter said "Mr. Trump has, with varying degrees of seriousness, repeatedly expressed interest in buying the ice-covered autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans," TASS reports.

"Some of his advisers have supported the concept, saying it was a good economic play, two of the people said, while others dismissed it as a fleeting fascination that will never come to fruition," the WSJ said adding that "US officials view Greenland as important to American national-security interests."

The Wall Street Journal noted that "at a dinner with associates last spring, Mr. Trump said someone had told him at a roundtable that Denmark was having financial trouble over its assistance to Greenland, and suggested that he should consider buying the island."

Trump is scheduled to make his first visit to Denmark early next month.